Individuals race for tops in CFL

With each of the four teams in the Commonwealth Football League just a game away from the end of the regular season and the playoff picture intact, it would be easy for coaches and players to simply look ahead to the postseason action, but the upcoming match ups could very well decide the standouts in all of the offensive categories.

At 5-0, the Shell Lightning need only to show up to Tinian this Saturday to play the Typhoon as they have already locked up a slot in the CFL championship, but some of their standouts have a chance at achieving top billing for their accomplishments with a strong showing on Tinian Municipal Field.

Hard-nosed runner Roger Tudela leads his team with 191 yards and three touchdowns on 30 carries this season, and Jeff “The Boulder” Boyer powered out 178 yards and four scores on 41 carries, and Donny Fejeran juked and jived for 168 yards and a touchdown on 35 carries.

Their last chance at the rushing title comes against one of the stingiest defenses this weekend and they will need breakout performances if they plan to overtake the top two running backs from the Express Electronics Eagles in punishing back Soni Pomee and the stealthy Stanley Iakopo.

Iakopo boasts the most yards on the ground with 269 on 34 touches despite being held to minimal yardage in his past two outings due to injuries, and Pomee powered out 193 yards on 36 carries even though the Eagles failed to make use of his talents until the second game of the year.

Each broke the plane of the end zone twice during the season, and their quarterback Dane Lizama has been in heaven handing the ball off to one of the most punishing combos in the league, but he also has Semisi Paongo in his stable, who racked up 149 yards on the ground on 37 carries.

That attack would be good enough for some teams, but Lizama single-handedly has out-passed all-comers by completing 29-of-77 attempts for 550 yards to lead the CFL by a mile.

The only thing that overshadows Lizama’s accomplishments is his nine interceptions to his six touchdowns, but that is somewhat par for the course in the CFL. His closest competition in the yardage race hails from across the channel as Juanis King has passed for 359 yards in four games for the Typhoon.

The resilient quarterback has taken a beating behind the line and his stats reflect his aches and pains as King is 28-for-96 through the air including three for touchdowns and 12 interceptions.

The Lightning originally pinned their hopes on the arm of Brian Hahn and their passing attack, but they soon found out that they have a pair of passers to complement a potent ground game. In just three starts, Hahn completed 22-of-67 passes for 310 yards, three touchdowns, and five interceptions, while Clas Ngeskebei has filled in nicely under center by completing 17-of-39 passes for 237 yards, two touchdowns, and four interceptions in two starts.

One ace that the Tinian QBs have had up their sleeve this season is rookie wide receiver Ringo Reyes. The lanky deep threat has out-gained all receivers but one by reeling in 12 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns for an average of 23.17 per grab, but he left a number of passes on the field.

They certainly missed his presence against the Eagles last time out, as King was without three receivers that never made the ferry to Saipan. Be that as it may, he still trails Eagles big man Mark Wallace by just 11 yards in the yardage hunt (289), but Wallace has the edge with 13 receptions and a touchdown. George Lieto also has 13 grabs for the Lightning, but he is 102 yards off the pace with 187. The multi-positional threat took one of the passes into the end zone while Ngeskebei split wide to bring in three of his eight receptions to the house for 150 yards. The duo is a big reason why the Lightning has the highest-scoring offense with 120 tallies on their side of the scoreboard, while the Eagles posted 104 through five games, Tinian scored 63, and the severely depleted Barbarians managed 40.

The Barbarians have played tough through all five of their games despite being out-gunned, overworked, and undermanned. The efforts of a number of inspirational players kept them mentally in the games, but the 10 receptions for 154 yard and one touchdown reeled in by Kelvin Fitial didn’t hurt either.

The black and gold also got a boost from Plas “Pass” Tagabuel who completed 18-of-59 passes for 244 yard when not running for his life or dishing off to all around player Syl Teregeyo for some of his 44 rushes that gained 137 yards and two touchdowns.

After being eliminated from the playoff hunt last week, their challenge is now all about pride, as they look to knock off the Eagles on Saturday, Nov. 19, in the season finale.